The Venerable Niche Digest: Concert Recap: "They are beautiful music" (Kishi Bashi, Nightlands, and SONDRE LERCHE)

I'd never been to the 9:30 club before, but I guess it's legendary? Also, I worried about finding the right thing to wear, which means I ended up wearing the worst thing possible. The worst thing possible being a soccer mom outfit, complete with nikes. Note: Whenever I wear running shoes with anything other than running attire, I feel that I am giving up on life. WHATEVS.
So I got there (it was so not hard to get to I LOVE the metro).

I really liked it inside:

I know it looks like, massive (it has a capacity of 1200). But it didn't feel ginormous. It think maybe because there weren't a ton of people there. I'm glad I got there early, because it would have been a shame if I missed this guy:

He does violin and keyboards for Sondre Lerche. He is crazy talented. He recorded and looped all the parts for his songs on stage; super creative. Kind of like Animal Collective + Nick Drake + Jonsi - sadness + accessibility. And look! You can listen to his tracks RIGHT HERE!

Isn't he lovely?

Next up was Nightlands. They were nice to listen to. But I don't know, not mind-blowing. Their songs sound like musical exercises to me. It might be worth your your while to give them a listen:

The lead singer is the bassist for Sondre Lerche.

And now onto the main man!

See more photos and a short review HERE.

He is just adorable.

But one thing first. Going to concerts outside of Utah is a shock to the system. We Utahns are part of the western frontier, the lawless wilderness. We are just so darned appreciative when people venture out to our city, knowing they'll be in front of small, sometimes clueless crowd (Remember The Big Pink at Graywhale last year? REMEMBER? I didn't see you there, so I guess not. That was a travesty). DC is just so polished and civilized. No one was dancing except the brave, limited few, swaying about. How are you supposed to stand there with your arms folded tight when you are listening to this? I do declare, I do not know.

ANYWAY.

You know all about that one time I saw Sondre Lerche. He plays so well, and I think he loves the world. Maybe it was a good thing the crowd was so polite; it fit him. Mr. Lerche is a gentleman. Turns out that Tuesday was the release of his new album. He asked, "Is anyone from the WHite House here?" with a strong "h" sound. He is so charming.

You have to see him. He will be in Salt Lake He has something for everyone! He sings! He jams! He stutters on command! He does tricks of all sorts! He has lovely guitars! One of them sounding vaguely like my name!